Ghostbusters Ongoing: Paranormal World
by Venkman-DR
Summary: My take on a Ghostbusters ongoing series, similiar to the one published by IDW. I'll update whenever I can and if recieved well I'll continue to do so! Enjoy as Peter, Ray, Winston and Egon battle the supernatural!
1. Prologue

Follow the paranormal adventures of the Ghostbusters as it continues one year after the Ivo Shandor event with Dr. Ilyssa Selwyn. They've saved the world once again but the supernatural never stay defeated for long as business is back to usual. Hauntings, possessions and more ghosts than you can swing a particle thrower at.

Meet the characters and where they're at now.

Dr. Peter Venkman - Unofficial leader of the Ghostbusters and loudest member of the team. After Peter's short romance with Ilyssa he had another short relationship with a French actress but it ended with the intervention of a certain poltergeist. He's currently trying to get the Ghostbusters franchise worldwide, with little luck other than the new established branch in Texas.

Dr. Egon Spengler - Scientist and expert on the paranormal, he and Ray designed the Ghostbusters' gear. After the Sedgewick ghost escaped from the research tank, he replaced it with another and current studies indicates that it hates electric shocks. Much to Peter's amusement. He's also constructing a device that allows users to see inside the containment unit.

Dr. Ray Stantz- Heart and soul of the Ghostbusters, Ray's childlike excitement in the face of the supernatural is met with his vast knowledge of the unknown. He's currently hiring interns to help at his book store. Ray's Occult has since grown into quite the place for rare books.

Winston Zeddemore - Former marine and most practical member of the group. Brave in the face of extraordinary threats, he has saved his team countless times. Along with Ray he serves as the mechanic and has a quick hand in fixing ecto-1a on the spot whenever she breaks down.

Janine Melnitz- Secretary among other things, she's worked for the Ghostbusters since before their first case. She has a secret crush on Egon though everyone knows, even Egon. Her sarcastic and sharp humor is met with an unbreakable loyalty. She reccently moved from her Brooklyn apartment to a place near Central Park.

Rookie- After being hired as newest member of the Ghostbusters, the Rookie helped them in facing and stopping Ivo Shandor from world destruction. After the ordeal they decided that instead of five Ghostbusters operating in New York they'd expand and open a new branch somewhere else. Rookie eventually opened Ghostbusters in Texas. Last they heard from him he hired a newbie by the name of Eduardo Rivera.

Walter Peck- Head of PCOC and a general pain in the butt. After the Shandor incident he was temporarily put on a month long observation for his part in the incident. After he was clinically declared sane and healthy they reinstated him and PCOC continued. He's currently overseeing the Ghostbusters' every move.


	2. Haunted Beginnings - Chapter 1

"Hello, Ghostbusters. What'll it be?" said Janine as she blew at her freshly painted nails, phone clutched between her left shoulder and neck.

"Phantom rats, right. _Gotcha_ ," she said as she hung the phone back and calmly stood up from her chair. She made her way down the stairs toward the basement and came upon Ray and Egon. They stood beside the containment unit with a computer hooked up to it, Egon tinkered with it whilst Ray monitored the unit's grid.

"Alright you two, enough playin' mad scientist. Call just came in about some _ghost rats_ haunting a home in Soho," she said as she blew at her fingertips again and waved her hands.

"Where's Pete?" Ray asked as he turned toward Janine.

"Venkman's visiting the client we had last week. The poltergeist case," Egon answered with his eyes still focused on the screen.

"And Winston's in Brooklyn taking care of a possessed _dog_ , I'm afraid it's up to you two," Janine said and turned away as she headed up the stairs. Her heels clicking.

"Spengler let's head out," Ray said somewhat excited as he unplugged the scanner from the unit and placed it down on a nearby table. "Rats _should_ be easy enough."

"Exactly. You'll do fine," Egon replied as he wrote down the data he saw on the computer screen.

"If there's _more_ than two, I might need some backup."

"Call if you do."

Winston had taken the Ecto-1a and Peter had taken Ray's car, which meant Ray was left with calling a cab. Half an hour later the yellow cab pulled up in front of the home haunted by ghostly rodents. Ray stepped out, jumpsuit zipped up and ecto-goggles on his head. The cab driver followed as he opened the trunk.

"Thanks a lot for the ride, what do I owe ya?" Ray said as he pulled his pack out of the cab's trunk and strapped it on. The trap he hung from his belt.

"You pay 40!" said the Polish driver.

"40 bucks!? Are you insane? I saw the meter _end_ on 30. Where did the extra _10 dollars_ come from?" he asked confused.

"You bring heavy bomb! Dangerous passenger!" the Polish driver said as he made several hand gestures.

"This is a nuclear— yeah never mind," Ray sighed as he paid the extra 10 dollars and the cab pulled away.

He walked toward the front door and rang the bell. He rang it again when no one answered and took a step back as he looked around. "Folks? Anyone home?" he mildly shouted.

"Over here," said a voice from next door.

Ray looked over his shoulder at the left and saw a young woman peek out from an open door as she gestured him to come closer. Ray obliged as he walked toward the neighbor house and met a brunette who couldn't have been more than 29. She was frightened, red circles under her eyes showed she cried not too long ago. Ray squeezed her shoulder and nodded. "You'll be alright now. I take it you're the one who made the call? And that's your home?" he asked.

She nodded and said under her breath, "It was so creepy to see rats crawl through walls instead of on them. They had these glowing eyes, I ran to my friend's house and called you."

"You did the right thing," Ray said as he stepped back and turned. He slid the goggles over his eyes and activated them as he walked back toward the house he came from. She had left the door unlocked and as Ray twisted the knob he heard high-pitched growls that came from beyond the door, he smiled in mild excitement. As he entered the home his goggles immediately detected pke traces left behind by the phantom critters. Slime residue in the form of footprints ran up the walls and all over the furniture. "Messy little guys," he mumbled as he drew his thrower and activated his pack.

He made his way through the living room and stepped onto the kitchen area where the fridge releaved a massive spike in pke residue. Glowing green-ish slime prints covered the entire fridge and kitchen floor. He approached the fridge and with one hand he slowly opened it. "Whoa!" Ray saw four green-colored rats with horned spines and glowing yellow eyes. They snarled as they saw him and immediately vanished upon encounter. "Nasty," he said as he looked around with his thrower aimed.

Several hours later, Egon, Winston and Peter sat around the kitchen table and talked over a plate of burgers. "So you roasted the demon puppy or what?" Venkman asked as he grabbed another burger and looked across to Winston.

"Nah, man. Simple trapping. Got it to look into the trap and without a single blast I had it," Winston replied as he drank from a cold bottle of coke.

"Fascinating," Egon mumbled as he looked through the notes on the table.

"No, no, now's not the time for working. _This_ is the kitchen, Egon. Grab a burger and get _fat_ like any other American," Peter said as he pushed a burger across the table and over Egon's notes.

"Awh you guys ordered burgers without me!" said Ray as he entered the kitchen.

"The rat whisperer! Saved you a burger, Egon wanted it but _I_ defended it for you," Peter said as he leaned back into his chair. The sleeves of his dark-brown sweater rolled up. "Did you dance with the rats or trap them? You look lovely."

Ray's jumpsuit had scratch marks everywhere and stains of green slime. He rolled up the sleeves and pulled up a chair, finally getting to enjoy a burger. "Those things were tough, I spent nearly two hours getting them all into one trap simultaneously ," he remarked as he grabbed a burger, the juices from the meat dripping everywhere.

"You went to visit that blonde girl from the poltergeist thing we had last week, didn't you? Knew you had a thing for her," Winston said as he shook his head at Venkman.

"Hey I do not have a _thing_ for her! And that she's going out to dinner with me next week has nothing to do with it. Girl's gotta eat, might as well eat with me," Peter said as he wrapped his arms behind his head and smirked.

"Shouldn't we've saved a burger for Janine?" Ray questioned as he noticed that the plate was empty, he ate the last two.

"Yes you should have, Dr. Stantz. But I'll just grab some sushi, I'll send ya the bill," said Janine as she suddenly appeared with a small note in hand. "Some ghost is haunting the Hudson River, time to get wet!"

Peter yawned whilst Winston and Ray slowly rose from their seats. Egon seemed oblivious to what's been said and Peter tapped him against the back of his head. "Reality to Egon, do you copy? We've got a call and you're comin', if I have to go, you have to go," he said.

"Fine," Egon replied as he joined the others and they slid down the fire pole. Suited up they drove out toward Hudson River where a crowd of 20 to 30 people stood with a few cops to hold them back. As the ecto-1a pulled up with sirens flashing the crowd cheered and nearly drove the police into the river itself.

"Alright boys, let's catch some fish!" Venkman shouted as he got out of the car. He strolled over toward one of the cops, all the while trying to clip his belt.

"So what's the deal? Moby Dick gone rampant or Jaws at large?" he questioned as he winked at a nearby female civilian who happened to look his way.

"We got here after the incident took place. The witness was unable to give a detailed description of anything, mild shock took the man 15 minutes to spell out his name. All we know is that there's something in the river and it ain't no freakin' Jaws," the cop replied.

"Fair enough, Moby Dick it is! Hold the crowd back and try not to shoot at anything, most of all me," Peter said as he walked back toward the car and had a proton pack strapped on by Egon.

The four walked toward the river as Egon scanned the water with the pke meter in hand, the wings of the meter moved up and down. "Some indication of psychokinetic energy, though not enough for a massive haunting," he said.

"Small one's just fine by me," said Winston as he looked across the river.

"I second that," Peter added as he crossed his arms and kicked a little pebble into the water. Suddenly ripples shot across the river all the way to the other side and beneath the water something glowed. "What'd I do?"

A ghostly manifestation shot-up out of the water and roared as it flew down the river before it circled and came back.

"Found it," said Egon with eyes latched onto the pke meter's screen.

"Good for you, now _put the toy away_ and _shoot_ at whatever that thing is!" Peter shouted as he grabbed his thrower and activated his pack.

A fish-like phantom with tentacles and a long tail with sharp crooked claws at the tip. It growled loudly as it flew through the air and made its way for an attack on the four busters. They aimed their throwers and fired as four proton streams blazed up at the ghost and it dodged them but a stream managed to burn one of its tentacles as it bumped into it. The ghost growled even more and flew back into the water, diving deep down. "I got it!" yelled Peter as he shot a stream into the river.

A wall of water rose from the river as Peter ceased fire and slowly stepped back. "My bad," he mumbled before the wall crashed into a wave and engulfed the Ghostbusters and the crowd of people behind them. Soaked and annoyed Peter spat out some water as he crawled back on his feet and aimed his thrower again but this time restrained his fire and waited but held firmly onto his particle thrower. "I'll get that fish!" he snarled.

Winston and Egon stood beside Peter as they joined with their aim whilst Ray unhooked the trap from his belt and held it at the ready. The water rippled again and in unison the three fired their streams just as the ghost surfaced again and caught it in a swirl of proton streams. It fought against the hold of it but was no match as they positioned it above dry land while Ray rolled out the trap and sucked it in. Smoke came up through the trap doors as Ray picked it up by its cord and held it toward the crowd of people. "Ladies and gentlemen, you may resume your daily activities!" he said with a wave.

"Home. Now. Need a hot shower," Venkman growled beneath his breath as he dragged his feet toward the car.

"That was one ugly fish," Winston commented as he looked at the loaded trap in Ray's hands.

"Technically it wasn't a fish. It was a class 4 full-roaming entity, with aquatic manifestation aspects," Egon calmly said as he cleaned his glasses.

"But it was one hell of a catch!" Ray exclaimed as he shook the trap, it buzzed with low-level electricity and a bit of residual smoke.


	3. Chapter 2

The next day Egon monitored the new subject in the Ecto Containment Research Tank that's installed near the door to the basement. With a pke meter in hand and lab coat on he studied the class 4 entity.

Small in size the ghost had four little arms and a goblin-like head, it seemed less bothered by Egon's presence than it was by the fact that it couldn't escape the tank.

"What's up doc?" Venkman asked as he creeped up on Egon.

"Nothing, Peter. The ghost shows similiar behaviour traits to that of the Sedgewick ghost. Though this one is less prone to bursts of uncontrollable hunger," Egon stated as he deactivated the meter and turned toward Peter.

"Yeah that green blob was a _fat_ one," Venkman said with a grunt as he remembered being slimed by the green phantom on their first encounter. "You didn't try to _feed_ this new lab rat of yours did ya?"

" _Ahem_ , no," Egon mumbled as he stepped passed Peter.

"Egon? Tell Dr. Venkman what you did," Peter teased as he turned his head to follow Egon.

As Egon walked up the stairs, Peter turned toward the research tank and stood in front of it. He crossed his arms and cocked his head, he narrowed his eyes and made a brief eye contact with the ghost inside. "What ya lookin' at Casper?" he said.

"Venkman, leave the ghost alone," said Egon from up on the first floor.

"Yes mom," Venkman replied and walked away, calmly headed toward his office.

The ghost placed all four of its hands against the particle charged glass of the research tank and growled as its eyes glowed.

While on the first floor Egon met up with Ray and discussed possibilities of the new observation station they plan to install down at the containment unit.

"It'll be interesting for sure, Egon. Imagine seeing _all those spirits_ interact with one another, the _many_ different entities we've captured. Oh boy, the chance to study them in _groups_ will be amazing," Ray said as he rubbed his hands together.

"Yes, it'll be fascinating. Though I fear they may not fully manifest inside the unit, the grid may prevent full manifestation. At best we'll see mists and spectral shapes," Egon replied as he removed his lab coat and hung it over his arm.

"You think so? Well we've still got the tank downstairs, at least that's a way to observe them when fully manifested. Couldn't we link a tank to the unit and reclaim a ghost from the unit into the tank? We can study it and once we're done we'll unload it back into the unit," Ray theorized as he stuck his hands down the pockets of his pants.

For a moment Egon stood somewhat surprised, surprised by what Ray just mentioned and that he himself never gave this possibility a thought. "You might be right, Raymond," he replied as he cleaned his glasses and headed off to the lab on the second floor with Ray behind him.

"We should begin working on it immediately," Egon stated as they walked up the stairs.

"Right, I'll grab a box of twinkies," Ray said.

Meanwhile across town Walter Peck, head of PCOC or "Paranormal Contracts Oversight Commission" sat at Mayor Mulligan's office. Ghostbusters were under his supervision and their latest case that involved citizens getting soaked at the Hudson River needed some proper PCOC documentation.

"Peck, we've got wackjobs claiming they've been touched by God's grace since the Hudson thing yesterday. Care to explain how the Ghostbusters soaked an entire crowd of 20 people?" Mayor Mulligan said as he sat behind his large desk on an expensive leather chair.

"Sir, Mr. Mayor. I have an appointment with _them_ this afternoon, I can assure you that I will find out _personally_ what happened," Peck answered as he fixed his tie.

"Good, that'll be all," said Mulligan as he opened the cigar box in front of him while Peck exited the office.

At the same time, Winston found himself trying to explain something completely different.

"No, no, listen man. I'm callin' for Ed Zeddemore, he's my father. I'm Winston, ya know? Big Ed's son," he said as he stood on the rooftop of the firehouse with a cell phone.

It had been months since Winston talked to his father, their relationship has been strained at best. Though it was the day of his mother's death, she died when Winston was 20. After her death they fell apart, she was what kept them together. Big Ed ran a construction company that moved around quite a bit, apparently he couldn't come to the phone.

"Old man, where are you?" Winston said as he stuck the phone back inside his pocket. He grabbed a pack of cigarettes from the left back pocket and lit one up.

An hour or two later the firehouse had a frequent visitor as Peck walked through the door and firmly stepped toward Janine's desk. A stack of files stuck underneath his arm, neatly folded into a map. He cleared his throat and Janine looked up at him with a sigh.

"Yes?" she said.

"Ms Melnitz, if you please I need to speak to the Ghostbusters. Review and document their latest case," he said, stern as always.

" _Whadda I look_ _like_ , their mother? You got lungs just _yell_ out loud," she said and crossed her arms.

"I will not. I report to the mayor and the city _pays_ for your business. Either get the Ghostbusters or look for a new job," Peck replied.

" _GUYS!_ Peck's back," she said and rolled her eyes.

"Ah, the PCOC that stole Christmas!" Venkman joked as he stepped out from his office. "What'll it be this time? Did we explode another building?"

"Dr Venkman, your jokes become _more tasteless_ each time you make them," Peck calmly said as he gave Venkman a quick glance.

"Well I try," Peter said as he leaned against Janine's desk.

"If you're lookin' for Egon and Ray they're in the lab drawing up specs for a new toy. Pass along the info and I'll make _sure_ they get it sometime next week, or month," Venkman said.

"A new piece of equipment? _This_ will have to be approved first before you are allowed to use it in the field. PCOC guidelines," Peck said with a smug tone.

"What!? Since when? That's just dumb, what do _you_ know about ghostbustin' equipment?" Venkman asked as he got up in Peck's face.

"Nothing! _Absolutely nothing_ , but my knowledge of your equipment is not important. My seal of approval is," Peck replied as he raised his voice.

"Fat chance of that happening, Pecker. Just _scratch_ the whole check-equipment-deal and we'll promise not to blow the city up with anything new we invent," Venkman argued.

"You've heard what I said. Either pass along the plans for _any_ new piece of equipment and have it checked by PCOC or face possible termination of your operation," Peck ordered and that vein on his left temple throbbed again. "Now let's discuss the events of yesterday's case at the Hudson River."

After about an hour and a half of describing every step of their bust yesterday, Peck finally left with the new restriction placed. Peter came out of his office again and shook his head as he got annoyed like always by Peck.

"Should've kept your mouth shut, boss. Now he's got a new _stick_ that he can poke ya with," Janine said as she drank from a big cup of coffee. She leaned against her desk, short skirt tightly bound to her curvy thighs.

"Yeah, that guy deserves a proton blast in the _rear_ , gotta go spoil their fun," Venkman said as he walked up the stairs.

Winston had made his way down from the rooftop in the meantime and sat in the kitchen as he ate a sandwich and stared at his plate a tad too focused.

"What's up soldier? You thinkin' of asking that _plate_ out to dinner?" Venkman asked as he noticed Winston.

"Marine. And no. Just thinkin', man," he answered.

"Wanna go to the lab and spoil Egon and Ray's fun? Peck's just been here and gave a few _new pointers._ Very entertaining,"

"Yeah we _all_ heard you two, but sure I'll come," Winston replied as he stood up and took his snack with him.

They came up to the lab and found Egon and Ray with papers and blueprints everywhere.

"Stop what you're doin' boys, Peck's been visiting. Got some _news_ for ya, you'll _love_ this!" Venkman said as he approached Ray and Egon.

"What do you mean?" Egon questioned as he temporarily stopped and cleaned his glasses.

"Well I told Peck you two were drawing up specs for a new toy. He felt _inclined_ to throw another guideline our way in the form of us needing to get his approval on _every_ new piece of equipment we build," Venkman said while he rolled his eyes.

"What!?" Ray and Egon said in unison, Ray even dropped his pencil.

"Why'd you mention it to him in the first place?" Ray asked.

"Well it was a Marshmellow Man kind of thing, it just _popped-in there_ ," he replied.

"Low blow, Pete," Ray said as he frowned.

"Awh cheer up big guy, you'll get used to it _someday_ ," Peter said as he swung his arm around Ray's neck.

"The Spectral Observation Hub wouldn't be in the least dangerous, explosion risk is fairly _low_ and no radiation," Egon said.

"Observation hub, huh? Sounds all kinds of cool, convince Peck it's a _bathroom_ for ghosts," Peter said as he winked at Egon.

"Right," Winston said with a sigh as he leaned against the wall.

Suddenly the alarm rang and another call had just come in.


	4. Chapter 3

"Right, so tell me again why _we're_ the only two goin' on this call?"

"Easy, Pete, neither of us have _any_ idea how to design whatever that hub thing Egon mentioned."

"Still, I say we should've brought Ray. He's _good_ at playin' bait."

Peter and Winston talked as they drove ecto-1a toward Queens. The Unisphere construct in Flushing Meadows Park was reported to be under attack by a ghost. Egon and Ray elected to stay behind as they wanted to continue working on the plans for the observational hub. Despite Peck's warnings.

Eventually they pulled up at the front of the park and were met with several police vehicles and an officer who held up his hand, stopping them. Both Ghostbusters exited the car and Peter walked around to meet up with the police officer. "Alright. What's the deal and how serious is it if we shoot the sphere with an accidental proton stream?" Venkman asked.

" _Very serious_. Try to avoid any and all damage to the Unisphere. A ghost has been attacking civilians. Reports say it comes in and out of the sphere," the cop explained.

"Maybe _it_ doesn't like guests," Venkman joked.

"Whatever it is, the meter's pickin' up on it," said Winston as he switched a few settings on the pke meter.

"No worries, we'll get it _out_ of the sphere and into another national landmark," Venkman said as he shook the cop's hand and walked off to the back of ecto-1a.

Strapped with proton packs on their back, Winston and Peter headed into the park as Peter held his hand against the trap that hung from his belt. "You thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?" said Venkman.

"What?" Winston replied as he followed the meter's readings.

"That sphere got _so sick_ of the damn tourists that it adopted a spook. Hell of a way to get rid of hippies," Venkman chuckled.

"Hippies? Man, you've got issues."

"Why do you think I became a scientist?"

When they came upon the Unionsphere there was no one in sight, civilians had fled the scene and there were backpacks and other objects left behind. "Place is dead, no one's here," Peter said as he drew his thrower and activated his pack.

"No one _alive_ that is. Getting a strong reading from the sphere itself, a _class 5_ ," said Winston as he looked up from the meter's screen at the Unisphere. "Whatever's here is inside that thing."

"Class five, huh? I got this," Peter said as he walked ahead and approached the sphere. His thrower at the ready, he stood in front of the globe landmark and looked up at it. " _HEY NASTY!_ Wanna come out and play?"

An eerie moan echoed from all sides and the unisphere lit up like Christmas. A transparent red-eyed skeleton of a huge bird flew out of the sphere and up into the sky. "Gotcha!" Peter said as he shot a proton stream up at the class five entity.

The skeleton apparition screeched as it flew opposite of the stream and dove straight down, headed for Peter. It opened its mouth, no teeth whatsoever, and threw up a ball of pink-ish slime that it fired at Peter. He ceased fire and jumped aside, dodging the slime but there was a trick to it. The slime began to move and tremble when suddenly it morphed into a miniature ghost, some little pink spook with wings and a pair of red eyes.

" _OH C'MON!_ " Peter yelled as he opend fire on the little ghost and it melted on impact.

Meanwhile Winston shot at the skeleton bird but it dodged his proton stream like it did Peter's and threw a lump of slime at Winston's feet. "That's disgusting, we gotta catch this bird quick," said Winston as he blasted the lump of slime.

"No kiddin'," Peter replied while he fired at the bird in the sky. "This thing's not goin' _down_ easy."

The skeleton ghost coughed-up five lumps of slime rapidly and showed no sign of stopping. "Hey Winston? I got an idea, follow my lead," said Peter as he ran toward the unisphere with the thrower in one hand and with the other he struggled to unhook the trap from his belt.

Winston followed in pursuit but stopped in his tracks when Peter suddenly opened fire on the unisphere, the proton stream blazed across the landmark. The ghost recoiled and screeched even louder as it flew back straight into the unisphere. "Now!" Peter said as he rolled out the trap and opened fire again, this time Winston joined.

Two proton streams cut across the sphere and with another loud screech the bird flew out of it again and into the streams as it headed straight for the Ghostbusters. They had it as the bird fought against the streams and they struggled to contain it. "That's it you slime pigeon!" said Peter as he stepped on the trap pedal and a cone of light sucked the ghost inside.

"Yep, knew we should've brought _Ray_ ," Peter said as he walked toward the loaded trap and nudged it with his boot. Smoke oozed out as he picked it up by its cord. "C'mon let's tell that cop we _shot_ at the sphere."

"How'd you come up with that _plan_ of yours?" Winston questioned as they walked back.

"Simple, I once listened to one of Egon's lectures about ghosts and their habitats. Some ghosts tend to sleep for _years_ on end in whatever place they haunt. I figured this thing must've spent _decades_ in that sphere before it finally woke up," Peter replied as he held the trap away from his face. "How would _you_ feel if someone shot at your house?"

As evening set-in they arrived back at the firehouse and got out of the car with the loaded trap in hand. "How'd it go guys?" Janine asked from behind her desk.

"No big deal," Peter replied as he held up the trap, the red indicator light continued to blink.

"No big deal? Yeah, right," Winston said as he followed Peter down to the containment unit.

As they came down the steps, a whole construction site had been raised as Egon and Ray were busy building their Spectral Observation Hub.

"You catch whatever haunted the Unisphere?" Ray asked as he looked up from the table he and Egon stood at.

"No, Ray. We gave up and went back home. That's why I'm holdin' this _empty trap_ here," Peter answered as he walked toward the containment unit.

While Peter unloaded the trap into the unit, Winston joined the other two Ghostbusters at the table. "So how's the hub comin' along?" he asked.

"In theory we've got a fully functional observation tank. Much like the one upstairs only with a stronger grid and more space," Egon said while he was face-down and drawing on the latest batch of blueprints.

"We should be able to _summon_ ghosts from the contaiment unit and draw them into the observation tank and study them. Even _multiple ghosts_ at the same time," Ray added as he smiled from ear-to-ear.

"More than _one ghost_ at a time? Isn't that a potential _risk?_ " Venkman asked as he joined the conversation. "If we put a couple of class fives and sevens into that _tank_ , wouldn't they overload the grid?"

"No, no it'll do fine," Egon said as he straightened his back and cleaned his glasses.

"Whatever you say, genius," Venkman said as he yawned and scratched the top of his head. "I'm gonna plunder the _fridge_ , see you guys later."

"Pete, _don't_ touch my cheesecake!" Ray said.

"Sorry _can't_ hear ya, Ray. My stomach's growling," Venkman yelled as he walked up the stairs.

"I'm headin' out, see you two in the morning," Winston said and padded Ray on the shoulder. He began to unzip his jumpsuit as he walked up the stairs.

"Can you imagine, Egon? Having the opportunity to study _every_ entity we trap. No matter how big," Ray said as he turned toward the containment unit and thought about the possibilites.

"Yes, it'll be fascinating for sure," Egon replied as he grabbed the latest blueprints and held it up as he stared at them. "I've got an idea, Raymond."

"I'm all ears!" Ray said.

Meanwhile Winston had taken the ecto-1a and told Janine he had something to take care of.

While he drove across the Brooklyn Bridge, Winston had the car phone dial his father's cell. The sirens were silent and the flashing lights on top of the car were off. It'd been a while since he visited his father's construction company and seeing as they moved constantly, he knew they wouldn't be on the last location he visited which was months ago.

"Pick up," Winston quietly mumbled as he dialed again.

"Hello?" a voice said on the other end, speakerphone switched on naturally.

"Dad?" Winston said somewhat unsure, the voice he couldn't recognize.

"Dad? Look kid I ain't _no one's father_ , at least I hope not," the voice replied.

"I'm lookin' for Ed Zeddemore, Big Ed. This is Winston, his _son_ ," he said.

"Ol' Greaser Zeddemore, that you?" the voice replied somewhat excited.

"Wait a sec, Bobby _that_ you?" Winston replied while he turned a corner and drove the car down a street. Parking it quickly.

"Yeah, kid. It's me! How ya been?" Bobby asked.

"Fine. But where's dad?" Winston said.

"Your— your dad, he's retired," Bobby replied hesitantly.

" _RETIRED!?_ Since when? He's 55, _no way_ he'd retire," Winston argued.

"Well, uhm, he sold the company and made a nice buck. He retired to Canada, _moved_ there last month," Bobby said.

"Ca— Canada? You're kiddin' me, really? He didn't tell _me_ anything about it, and why do _you_ have his cell?" Winston asked, frustration to his voice.

"He gave it to me, gave me his _cell_ before he said his goodbyes to me and the boys," Bobby said. "I'm sorry, kid."

"Gotta go," Winston said and ended the call. He grabbed the wheel, held it tightly as he closed his eyes. "You son of a—"

He remained silent for a minute or two before he turned the key and ignited the engine, he pulled away and drove further down the street.


	5. Chapter 4

The next morning Peter awoke to the sound of a loud humming, so loud that it gave him a mild headache. "What. The. Hell?" he grunted as he rubbed his eyes.

He dragged himself out of bed, a white shirt with long baggy shorts was what he wore to bed and with that he stumbled down the steps to the main floor where Janine sat behind her desk with her fingers in her ears.

He stood in front of her desk with his arms gestured to question what happened. Janine nodded her head toward the basement door and Peter frowned as he walked barefoot on the cold floor. He pushed the basement door open and as he walked down the stairs he noticed an elevator-like glass box that was attached to the containment unit by way of a metal tube.

" _TURN IT OFF!_ " Peter yelled, his voice not breaching the humming. He waved his arms about and caught the attention of Egon who wore a welding helmet.

Egon gestured Ray to turn off the machine as Ray stood near a computer hub, Egon on one knee near the connecting tube.

The humming died down as Peter approached them with an annoyed expression on his face. "What's the big _idea?_ You two tryin' to invent a new _wake up call?_ I'd say this one goes on the _no_ list," Peter said as he rubbed his eyes.

"It's 08:00 a.m. we're _officially_ launching the Spectral Tank," said Ray as he tapped against the compter screen he stood before.

"You're answering the _wrong_ question, Ray," Peter mumbled with a sigh.

"It does work, Venkman. We summoned a class five entity from the containment unit and _successfully_ stored it back once we studied it for a few minutes," Egon said as he held the welding helmet under his arm and approached Ray and Peter.

"I'm all warm inside from this scientific discovery, but _please_ , oh _please_ , invent something that has a silencer option!" Peter said. "Wait a sec, the Spectral Tank? What happened to the Spectral Television Hub or whatever you two named it before?"

"Spectral Observation Hub. Name was _too_ long," Egon replied.

"Makes sense," Peter said and nodded.

"You wanna see how it works?" Ray said with enthusiasm.

"No," Peter said.

" _C'mon_ you'll love it!"

"Fine. But I'm eatin' your _cheesecake_ , Ray."

"Gentlemen, observe," Egon said as he took Ray's place behind the computer hub that was wired to the glass tank and he entered a few commands.

"This wasn't here yesterday. You two made _this_ while normal people slept?" Peter questioned, his arms crossed as he stood next to Ray.

" _Yeah_ we worked all night! Great, huh?" Ray said as he looked at the square glass tank.

"Great, sure," Venkman said still somewhat sleepy.

The tank began to show electrical sparks as they lit up the tank from behind the glass. Egon monitored the computer screen and a faint buzz came from the metal tube, it grew louder as disembodied lights gathered in the tank.

"Manifestation in, three, two, one!" Egon counted as he pointed his finger at the tank and pulled a switch that activated a laser grid that wasn't visible to the naked eye.

The lights had formed a ghost, a humanoid entity that lacked any lower body limbs. It had a torso with arms and a head. A shredded shirt and arms covered in trails of black slime, its head consisted out of blackened eyes with no nose and a toothless mouth.

"Handsome fella," Peter said as he walked toward the glass.

He stood in front of it and stared at the entity, and it stared back at him. He gave it a wink and suddenly it flew toward the glass and immediately recoiled as it got shocked by the particles that charged the tank.

"Neat trick, can we put Janine in there when she's havin' a bad day?" Peter joked as he looked over his shoulder at Ray and Egon who both shook no.

"This is for scientific study only, not your amusement," Egon said.

"Fine, take all the _fun_ out of it," Peter said and shrugged. "You gonna send pretty boy here back to the big house?"

"Yes," Egon said as he activated the reverse switch and the metal tube flashed a light similiar to that of the traps they use and the ghost got sucked inside rather quickly. A moan echoed as it vanished into the tube. The containment unit showed that it was put back when the green light flashed.

"So what was the noise before? This wasn't too _loud_ at all," Venkman questioned.

"We had a _slight_ electrical glitch, it was nothing," Egon said calmly as he cleaned his glasses.

"Nothing, huh? If we blow up because of your little _fun box_ here, I'm not sending you a Christmas card this year," Venkman said. "Anyone seen Winston?"

"He took the car last night but returned it before I came to the office this morning," Janine said as she stood halfway down the stairs.

All three men immediately turned as they hadn't heard her come down the steps. "Stop sneakin' around! How can you _sneak_ with those heels? Woman's a ninja," Peter said.

"So where's he now?" Ray asked.

"How should _I_ know? If you three are done down here, I've got work for ya. Call came in about some ghostly _bike messenger_ who cycled _through_ cars," Janine said as she pushed her red-framed glasses up her nose and walked back up the stairs.

"I'm not even _dressed yet_!" Peter yelled up at her.

"So _hurry_ up!" she replied before she shut the door.

"Can we at least discuss putting her in that tank-thing?" he said as they walked up the stairs.

"Be quiet, Peter," Egon replied as he walked behind Venkman.

At that same moment the NYC police department struggled to control traffic on Broadway in lower Manhattan, the phantom cyclist manifested on the Broadway Bridge and from there it began to cycle down Broadway. Cars it cycled through stopped working instantly. "The Ghostbusters have been contacted, they _should_ be here soon," said officer Grand to a group of upset drivers as he escorted them off the road.

Not too long after, the ecto-1a drove out onto Broadway and the Ghostbusters spotted several cars that had broken down. "Triple A , must be havin' a _blast_ with all this. Look at 'em, I say we let this spook roam free. Works _wonders_ on traffic control," Peter said as he hung against the window.

"Potentially dangerous," Egon remarked as he sat next to Ray who drove the car. The car had technology similair to the pke meter installed in its hardware and Egon used it to track the current haunting. "Residue psychokinetic energy, class 4. It's _still_ on Broadway."

"Wonder where Winston's at, he usually _calls_ if he's unable to join a bust. Called his phone and left a message behind before we left," Ray said as he shifted into third gear.

"Forget Winston, I ain't even had _breakfast yet!_ Worry about him after we trap this thing, Ray," Peter said as he searched the inside pocket of his jumpsuit for a pack of gum.

As Janine sat at her desk, typing out the calls they'd had this week when suddenly Winston entered the firehouse. She looked up from her computer and smiled as he approached. " _There you are!_ The guys are out on a call, ya should better hurry," she said.

"Not going on calls today, Janine. Something's come up and I've got to handle it, need a _few_ personal days," Winston said, concern to his voice. "I'll be back in a couple of days."

"Personal days? Whadda you talkin' about? Are you _alright?_ " she replied as she stood up and comforted him with a hand on his shoulder.

"My old man, somethin's not right. I can't explain it but it's just a _feeling_ , turns my stomach around," Winston said with a sigh as he had no clue really what to do. "Just don't tell the guys, don't want 'em lookin' into _this_."

"Look into what? Do you think your father is in _supernatural trouble?_ Whatever's wrong, you _shouldn't handle_ a problem like that on your own," Janine said, concerned for Winston's safety.

"I'll be fine, Janine. I'm taking one of Egon's spare pke meters, just in case. If I've learned anything from this job, it's to _expect_ the unexpected. And that usually means something creepy," he said as he went for Egon's locker and grabbed one of his spare pke meters. "Just tell them I've got a _family_ issue."

"Family issue? Yeah, _sure_ ," Janine mumbled as she stood next to her desk while Winston left the firehouse.

Back on Broadway the Ghostbusters after a long chase had the cyclist cornered on an intersection. They stood on three different sides from it. "Hey that's my car you just zapped!" an angry citizen yelled from behind a bench that he hid behind.

"Apologies! Feel free to take it up with _Walter Peck_ , head of the Paranormal Oversight Commission. He'll pay for _everything_ , out of his own pocket! Tell him _Peter Venkman_ sent you," Peter replied as he looked over his shoulder to the man behind the bench. Peter damaged the man's car with an accidental proton blast.

The phantom cyclist snarled as it saw no possible escape between the three Ghostbusters. It had a busted-up helmet on and wore a dirty cut-up uniform. Zombie-esque limbs with one eye popping out as it hung from a thread of flesh from its socket.

"Ray, get a trap ready. Egon? Let's light this creep up," Peter said as he and Egon took aim while Ray unhooked his trap. The cyclist saw everything they did and wasn't too pleased as it growled even louder. With one opening left, it turned its bike around and began to cycle rapidly but two proton streams caught up to it and they pulled it back.

Confined by the streams the cyclist moaned while it tried to escape as the trap rolled towards it. "Anyone looking should close their eyes, right about _now!_ Trap open," Ray yelled as he raised his hand and the trap sprung open as its cone of energy sucked the cyclist and bike inside. Ray picked up the loaded ghost trap and turned toward Egon and Peter. "Nothing like a morning call to get the blood flowing, huh?" Ray said.

"Shut up, Ray," Peter said as he hung his thrower on his belt and headed back for ecto-1a.

"With the many accidents involving bike messengers you'd think we'd see _more_ ghosts like this one," Ray said as he and Egon followed Peter.

"In theory, we should expect at least half of work-related deaths to rise and come back as entities," Egon replied as he studied the readings on the pke meter he got from the ghost they just caught. "Not exactly a peaceful death."

"Can you two stop with that? I'm on an _empty_ stomach and I've just spent a good part of my morning chasing a _zombie bike messenger_ ," Venkman said. "Breakfast now. Dead people later."


	6. Chapter 5

"Done and done," said Ray as he unloaded the latest catch into the ecto-contaiment unit. "How _exciting_ it'll be to study this entity in the Spectral Tank!"

"Yes, it'll be fascinating," Egon replied as he and Ray resumed their tests and studies on the Spectral Tank. "Raymond, we should try and _mix_ entities of various classes to—"

"Gentlemen, _PCOC guidelines_ state that every new piece of equipment must be approved by a _PCOC official_ ," Walter Peck said as he suddenly interrupted Egon. He made his way down the basement stairs with a thick stack of papers beneath his right arm. "There is also the _issue_ of property damage from reccent cases you've handled."

"Not _this_ again," Ray sighed.

"I assure you, this equipment has a _low_ risk of explosion. No nuclear radation," Egon calmly said as he cleaned his glasses.

"Dr. Spengler, no matter _your_ evaluation of the risks. This glass-box will have to approved before I can officially allow you to use it," Peck replied as he placed the papers on the large table nearby, after he shoved some of Egon's notes aside. "Dr. Venkman, where is he?"

"Pete? Guess he's out," Ray said as he last saw Venkman heading up to the kitchen when they got back to the firehouse.

"I see, I'll have to come back for _him personally._ Seems he allowed for additional damage to be done to the Unisphere, a police officer _testified_ to it," Peck said as he fixed his tie, both Egon and Ray were still in their jumpsuits. "Let's begin."

Several hours later, Winston drove to the construction site where his father's company reportedly worked their latest job. He'd gotten the information from City Hall, a city official was glad to assist. The car he drove was a hired one, sure it was no ecto-1a but it served just fine. Big Ed Constructions stood on a big sign as he drove up the construction site and was stopped by a few workers.

"Lookin' for Bobby Warden," Winston said to one of the workers after he rolled down his window.

"Bobby? You're about _six months_ too late, buddy. He _died_ in a car crash," the worker replied much to Winston shock.

"Ca— _Car crash?_ But I just— alright thanks," he said as he quickly put the car in reverse and drove away. It didn't add up, he spoke to Bobby on the phone the day before and he sounded just fine. His father lived in Brooklyn, not too far from where he was now. Winston ran a few red lights as he worried about his father's well-being.

After a short drive he arrived at his father's apartment building and quickly got out of the car, he had a key to his father's place. Winston ran inside the building with the pke meter in hand and left it in neutral-mode. As soon as he stepped inside the building it began to detect spikes of psychokinetic energy. "The hell?" Winston said as he looked at the meter's indicator screen and saw readings of a manifestation.

He was no Egon, sure, but he knew how to read meter's data output and it was enough to make him rush up the stairs instead of taking an elevator up. His father lived on the 30th floor.

Sweat on his forehead and his heart throbbed in his throat, Winston unlocked the door to his father's place and entered the apartment with the pke meter running full-power. As he stepped inside he immediately felt that the air was thick and the hairs on his arm stood up. " _Dad!? You here?_ " Winston shouted as he opened every door in the apartment but his father was nowhere to be found.

The pke meter had gone silent, usually it made a beeping noise but now it went completely dead. He shook it but apparently it had just died. "Great, knew I should've gotten my spare pack," he said as he looked around the room but kept his nerves under control. Something was here, an entity or paranormal force. "Alright. Whatever's here, _I demand_ you reveal yourself and give me back my father! In the name of Jes—"

The room suddenly shook violently and Winston lost his footing as he fell backwards against the wall. It ended as soon as it began and the shaking died down whilst Winston sat against the wall, the heavy energy made it even difficult to stand up. "Show, _show yourself_ ," he said with an authoritative tone.

And as if someone pulled the covers over his eyes, the room went completely pitch black. Cold air slid up his back and he knew this was a powerful manifestation. The darkness vanished and revealed the same living room, everything was there. The air had just gone colder, freezing cold, and it seemed like he couldn't make a sound. Nothing made a sound actually no matter what he tried as he grabbed a glass and dropped it on the floor but that didn't work either.

"Winston...Zeddemore..." a disembodied voice spoke to him in his mind. "You...have...found...him...now...join...him..."

As it spoke he felt that urge to stand against whatever threat this was, something he picked up from being a Ghostbuster. Suddenly he saw him, he saw his father as his body appeared before him floating aimlessly. His complexion very pale and his face gaunt. Winston rushed over to his father and grabbed his wrist. His heart still very much alive much to Winston's relief but his father seemed to be in a supernatural coma, even though Winston shook him as hard as he could.

"He...sleeps...Winston...Zeddemore...you...will...join..him...now..." said the eerie voice inside Winston's mind but this time it revealed itself physically.

A black mass rose from the floor and manifested itself before Winston's eyes as he saw long black robes with little red gems on it. It wore a hood that showed a pale humanoid face, it had two black eyes with a third eye on its forehead that glowed brightly-purple. A nose and mouth but it had no eyebrows nor eyelashes. It reached out a bony pale hand, its fingers lacked nails. Winston jumped aside and reached for a baseball bat his father kept next to the television set, preparing to swing it at the creature's face.

His attempt was short-lived as the creature's third eye unleashed a wave of energy that struck Winston and knocked him out cold. He immediately began to float and his face already drained of color as paleness set-in.

The creature vanished into a black mass again as it retreated back into the floor and a flash of light shot across the room. Winston and his father had disappeared as the air returned to normal, so did the sound. Winston had joined his father in whatever supernatural limbo his father had been put in.

Winston awoke to a spectral dimension, it consisted out of bright orbs and darkness all around. He checked his pulse and it felt strong but that could be an illusion. He felt no ground under his feet but managed to walk all the same.

"Anyone here?" he said, surprised that he could speak again. "Anyone at all?"

"W— Winston?" said a familiar deep voice, it echoed from the darkness.

" _Dad?_ That you?" Winston replied as he felt his heart jump up his throat.

The orbs lit the shape of a man as he approached from out of the darkness, a stocky and tall man. Winston saw his father's face and immediately lept toward him as he wrapped his arms around his father. "Thought you died!" Winston said with a sigh of relief.

"But haven't I? Son, whatever this is, it ain't Heaven," Ed replied as he hugged his son back.

"What happened to you?" Winston asked.

"I don't really know. Found a rare item during one of our jobs and thought it might be _worth somethin'_ so I took it home. But after that everything's all one big mess, can't remember what happened," Ed said. "I remember _that voice_ though, one hell of a _creepy_ voice."

"Yeah, it got me like it got you. Though it _didn't_ want me to find you. I called your cell and _Bobby_ picked up. Told me you retired to _Canada_ and left your phone to him," Winston said as he shook his head. "Knew somethin' was up!"

" _Canada!?_ The hell would I be doin' there? And Bobby died _months ago_ , Winston. That's a sick game this thing is playin'," Ed said somewhat furiously, Bobby was a good friend of his.

"It tried to keep me away, maybe it knew who I was. Knew about the _Ghostbusters_. I could really use some of our _gear_ right about now," Winston said as he looked at the surroundings they found themselves in.

"Whatever did this, was it a _ghost?_ Are we _possessed!?_ " Ed said as he grabbed his wrist and checked his pulse, much like Winston did before.

"Possessed? No, I don't think so. Seen the _other guys_ being possessed before, this ain't nothin' like that. But it is a ghost of some kind," Winston explained. "We gotta get out of here."

"Been searchin' for a way out of this place, but it just goes _on and on._ There's no end to the darkness and those little balls of light," Ed said as he and Winston looked around a bit.

"How long you been here?" Winston asked as he remembered he had the pke meter inside his coat. He pulled it out and switched it on.

"Feels like _forever_ , don't really know. My watch _stopped_ when I got here," Ed said.

"Yeah this thing ain't working either, just activates but _won't_ scan nothin'," Winston said as he shook the meter. "I'll leave it on just in case."

Meanwhile in the outside world the evening had fallen and at the firehouse they finally finished up with Peck and his papers as he exited the Ghostbusters HQ.

"That was fun," Ray said as he and Egon came out of the basement.

"I can think of _better ways_ to spend my time on," Egon added.

"Finally!" Venkman shouted down from the ceiling around the opening of the fireman's pole and he slid down it. "Thought Peck would _never_ leave."

"Pete, you knew he was here? You _avoided_ him on _purpose_?" Ray asked as the three Ghostbusters stood opposite one another.

"Think what you're askin' me, Ray. _Of course_ I avoided Wally!" Venkman answered.

"Where is Winston?" Egon suddenly asked as he turned toward Janine who sat at her desk, listening to their conversation.

"He, uhm, called earlier and said he had a _family issue_ to deal with. Said he needed a few personal days, he's fine," Janine said though she was still worried about him.

"Personal days, huh? I gotta remember that next time _Peck_ comes for a visit," Peter said as he unzipped his jumpsuit. "I'm gonna go hang on the couch, get out of this thing."

Suddenly the phone rang and Peter immediately rolled his eyes as he grabbed the zipper of his jumpsuit and zipped it up again. "The universe must be laughin'," Peter said annoyed.

"Ghostbusters, _whadda you want?_ " Janine said as she held the phone to her ear. "Right. Uhu, elephant's trunk. _Gotcha_."

"Elephant's trunk?" Venkman asked as the three Ghostbusters stood in front of her desk.

Ray and Egon looked at her with similiar curiosity as she wrote them a note with the adress on it and handed it to Egon. "Go get 'em boys," she said.

Flashing lights and loud sirens, ecto-1a drove out of the firehouse and onto the street as they headed for the client's adress. "So we're bustin' Dumbo? Ghosts get _weirder_ with each call," Peter said as he leaned back into his seat.

"Elephant's trunk, interesting," said Egon as he pulled up his pocket-sized version of Tobin's Spirit Guide.

"An Elephant's trunk isn't so extraordinary, Egon. We've seen weirder manifestations before," Ray said as he drove the car through New York traffic, toward Brooklyn.


End file.
